Spring is in the air—and so are asthma triggers. Did you know that asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under 15; or that it is a leading cause of school absences? More than 25 million Americans - including 1.9 million residents of New York State - currently have asthma.

Yet, CDC’s National Asthma Control Program, which has helped reduce deaths and hospitalizations due to asthma since its inception in 1999, is in danger of elimination unless Congress continues its funding of this lifesaving program.

CDC funds these lifesaving programs in 34 states, including New York, so that people with asthma and their families can learn to better manage their disease. This means people can learn to prevent life-threatening asthma attacks, reducing healthcare costs and saving lives.

There is no better time than now - National Asthma Awareness Month - to contact your members of Congress to ask them to fight to save CDC’s National Asthma Control Program. As asthma rates increase, more must be done to combat this disease.

To learn more about the American Lung Association’s programs and resources for managing asthma, visit www.lung.org/asthma.